Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Careers

Key Functions

• Researches and analyses technical-related issues on the development, implementation and evaluation of assigned programmes/projects; assists in the review of relevant documents and reports.
• Produces a variety of technical information, data, statistics and documents as well as technical input for reports and web pages.
• Provides technical support/analysis to various assessments, studies and projects and provides technical backstopping to field projects.
• Collaborates in the development of improved/updated tools, systems, processes and databases.
• Oversees the updating of databases and web pages.
• Participates in multidisciplinary teams and/or leads working groups/teams collaborates with other Divisions/Offices/Centres and agencies on work groups and committees and promotes best practices.
• Collaborates in, provides technical backstopping to and ensures the quality/effectiveness of capacity development activities within Member Nations such as policy support, organizational development and individual learning events including preparation of related information, learning materials and on-line tools.
• Promotes knowledge sharing and best practices at international meetings and conferences and influences partners in stakeholder consultations.
• Performs other duties as required.

Specific Functions

• Provides technical backstopping, project management and overall regional coordination support for the EU-funded Regional Programme in Livestock and Pastoralism for Climate Change Adaptation in Eastern/Horn of Africa (PLACE, GCP/INT/1051/EC), including management of relationships with (regional) partners, donor (at working level) and country offices.
• Supports the design and implementation of policies, regulatory frameworks and institutional arrangements supportive of inclusive, equitable, effective and efficient systems.
• Promotes the regular use of knowledge, information and early warning for evidence-based decision making and monitoring.
• Supports governments in establishment of enabling environments, including the development of conducive and effective policies, strategies and investment plans, programmes, governance and coordination mechanisms in a cross-sectoral, integrated and participatory way.
• Provides technical support to ongoing operational emergency and recovery projects and programmes and related capacity development in country, regional and subregional offices.
• Enhances country public and private sector capacities and investments to design, implement and evaluate policies, strategies and programmes, including through international and regional instruments.
• Empowers the rural poor and their organizations, and particularly youth, women and vulnerable groups, to access productive resources, services, markets, productive employment and decent work opportunities, social protection systems.
• Formulates and builds capacities to implement regional and international standards, agreements and voluntary guidelines and legal, policy and institutional systems and frameworks.
• Provides programmatic, strategy and resource mobilization support for emergency and resilience programmes and strengthens country preparedness and response at all levels.
• Supports RTEA knowledge management, communication - visibility activities.
• Performs other duties as required.
• CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Advanced university degree in political sciences, business administration, agricultural economics, development economics, rural sociology, food security, nutrition, sustainable agriculture (including livestock, forestry and fisheries) or related field. 
• Five years of relevant experience in technical cooperation's related activities, policy advice and analysis relating to food and nutrition security, agriculture and rural development, fishery, forestry, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes.
• Working knowledge (proficiency - level C) of English and intermediate knowledge (intermediate proficiency - level B) of another official FAO language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish).

• The National MEL Specialist will assist in gathering, analyzing, and reporting MEL data, ensuring the accuracy and reliability of information related to ECTAD projects in FAO Kenya.

Tasks and Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain the country-level M&E framework and plan in alignment with regional and global MEL requirements 
• Develop tools for routine data collection for log-frame monitoring purposes.
• Collect and ensure the quality of information required for reporting on project and programme-level indicators.
• Conduct routine records keeping (means of verification), and log frame monitoring.
• Liaise with and backstop ECTAD Kenya technical officers concerning MEL information provision and validation.
• Implement country-level case studies and work closely with the global and regional teams to ensure adherence to quality standards. Enter MEL information and generate MEL and narrative reports in prescribed formats.
• Participate in Regional MEL trainings organized by the Global MEL team 
• Regularly update ECTAD Kenya’s training repository in line with prescribed standards. 
• Support the development of project concept notes (CNs) and proposals.
• In close consultation with the National Epidemiologist, support M&E of the In-service Applied Veterinary Epidemiology Training (ISAVET) programme at the national level
• Lead in the preparation of periodic project reports (weekly, ad-hoc, monthly, quarterly, bi-annual, annual and end of project) in line with required reporting formats
• Support the development and review of Detailed Implementation Plans (DIPs) and work plans for all ECTAD projects
• Support preparation of periodic and final reports on the implementation progress of ECTAD projects
• Support MEL activities in other programmes within the FAO country office by participating in and contributing to field surveys and assessments.
• Support monitoring and reporting of CPF implementation  
• Perform other duties as requested by the ECTAD Country Team Leader/ FAOR.
• CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements    

• A minimum of University degree in social sciences, statistics, research methods, anthropology and/or related fields 
• A minimum of three (3) years of progressively responsible experience in Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning functions preferably in agriculture/livestock domains or health-related fields 
• Working knowledge (level C) of English and Swahili
• National of Kenya.

Tasks and responsibilities

• Support the project manager in following up and planning with the various FAO units and partners in the delivery of the project/programme.
• Overseeing support activities in project implementation against project workplans, objectives and operating environment.
• Assist the programme manager in the following up of requests for services to be provided under MS 502 and 507 in line with the FAO rules and regulations.
• In collaboration with the technical teams, support in the collation and compilation of the programme annual and quarterly project workplans, procurement, LoA and travel plans. 
• In collaboration with the M&E unit and the technical officers, follow up on project periodic reports and submit to Operations for final submission and uploading in the system.
• Ensure timely submission of Staffing action requests and supporting documents to the Operations Team for processing.
• Follow up with the operations and travel units to ensure timely submission of Travel Authorizations, LTECS and BTORS timely processing. 
• In collaboration with the operations/budget’s team, ensure projects’ transactions are continuously mapped in FPMIs.
• Track procurement requests and follow up with the operations unit to ensure timely delivery in the field. 
• Maintain an asset register for all project related assets and ensure proper handover of assets in liaison with the Asset manager.
• Maintain an up-to-date register of all programme contracts and LoAs on the shared-Drive. 
• Review adequacy of financial reports provided by Service Providers and in collaboration with the operations and Finance units, ensure timely payments and closures of POs. 
• In collaboration with the communications team, organize and undertake the compilation of project success stories for documentation.
• Preform Other related duties as assigned by the programme manager.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING
Minimum Requirements    

• A minimum of a bachelor’s degree in agriculture, environmental sciences, rural development or other related fields. 
• Six years of relevant experience in the project management and/or Operations
• Working knowledge of English and Kiswahili
• National of Kenya

Tasks and responsibilities

• The National Project Technical Advisor will be expected deliver on the following:
• Coordinating the project at the country level, providing technical assistance and facilitating engagement with relevant stakeholders within the pilot country and region.
• Supervising and guiding the consultants in the development of their tasks
• Coordinating and guiding the implementation of subcontracts (e.g. Letters of Agreements)
• Reviewing national consultants’ and subcontracts’ reports and activities 
• Liaising with national and regional authorities for the submission and acceptance of policy proposals to promote efficient registration of alternatives to chemical pesticides, improving the management of hazardous pesticides and agricultural plastic
• Liaising with national competent authorities for the submission and acceptance of joint recommendations on how government expenditure can be used to incentivize the adoption of safer alternative to hazardous pesticides and safe management of hazardous pesticides and agricultural plastics
• Liaising with the private sector for the adoption of green finance models to support the transition to safer alternatives and environmentally sustainable management of pesticides and agricultural plastics
• Liaising with advisory systems, schools and universities to promote the access to current information about safer alternatives to pesticides and agricultural plastics
• Liaising with civil society organizations to promote awareness campaigns on risks of HHPs and other pesticides and agricultural plastics and the benefit of safer alternatives are supported
• Promoting the regional scale-up of project best practices through meetings, events and conferences
• Attending and organizing project-related events in the country 
• Undertake any other relevant assignment as may be directed by FAOR from time to time

Minimum Requirements    

• University degree in Agriculture, Environmental Science, Political Science or related field
• Minimum of 7 years professional experience in agricultural policy and project management 
• Working knowledge of English and Kiswahili
• Must be a Kenyan National

Tasks And Responsibilities

• Work closely with the African Union - InterAfrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) and the European Union (EU) Delegation in Nairobi and International Partnerships (INTPA) HQ, to support and prepare the next stage of mobilisation of EU funds and others for the PPR eradication programme in Africa.
• Coordinate this technical assistance team (including sector experts) and ensure the coherence of the global, regional, and country level policy dialogue in Africa.
• Engage and collaborate with relevant global, regional institutions, organizations, and stakeholders, including national authorities on the development of a strategy for the involvement of the private sector.
• Support the findings and contribute to the discussions of the PPR GEP Secretariat and Pan African PPR secretariat (PAPS) on resource mobilisation for the PPR eradication.
• Contribute to identify partners/areas for complementarity and possible synergy and recommend appropriate collaborative actions.
• Contribute to the formulation of the PPR vaccination strategy and epidemiological surveillance
• Contribute to develop recommendations for optimal implementation of PPR GEP (national, regional, continental and global);
• Contribute to the identification of performance indicators and Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) system to monitor the program implementation.
• Assist in the formulation and implementation of the PPR strategies (at national and regional levels) policies, knowledge products and advocacy material to improve small ruminant health and production in the framework of small ruminant health including multidisciplinary approaches in addressing endemic and production animal diseases and public health threats of animal origin;
• Prepare regular reports on the implementation and progress of the strategy for private sector engagement (every 3 months) and collect statistical information to monitor the implementation of the project deliverables.
• Undertake other duties as required.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Advanced degree in Veterinary discipline relevant to the duties listed including extensive working experience in animal health in Africa.
• At least 10 years (Category A) of relevant professional experience in relevant positions in Africa with sound understanding of the regional context.
• Working knowledge (level C) of English and French.

Tasks And Responsibilities

• Work closely with the African Union - InterAfrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) and with the European Union (EU) Delegation in Nairobi to support and prepare the next stage of mobilization of EU funds and others for the PPR GEP eradication 2026 onwards.
• Contribute to the necessary political dialogue between regional and national governments and prepare the future EU funding on PPR in Africa.
• Formulate opportunities for private sector involvement in PPR eradication making use of the EU instruments available whenever possible (either through blending or other type of financial guarantees) and identify other instruments that may be available through other donors.
• Contribute to the formulation of the comprehensive Business Plan and guideline for effective resources mobilization options, approaches, tolls including donors intelligence and agreement negotiation for complete eradication of PPR,
• Support PPR GEP Secretariat and Pan African PPR secretariat (PAPS) on resource mobilization by liaising with relevant actors.
• Contribute to identify partners/areas for complementarity and possible synergy and recommend appropriate collaborative actions.
• Organize meetings with the various players to negotiate the formats required by the European Commission for these blending and grant operations, in line with the strategy to be developed by AU-IBAR, FAO and other small ruminant value chain actors,
• Prepare proposal of IBAR request with the other Expert and related Action Documents and concept note to be submitted to donors
• Ensure the necessary corrections are made until the documents are finalized, following discussions / negotiation and, joint approval by AU-IBAR, FAO and the EU Delegation.
• Undertake other duties as required.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Advanced university degree is required in a relevant field (Animal production, animal health or Agriculture).
• At least 10 years (for Category A) of relevant work experience in areas below:
• Track record in Political Dialogue with Governments, local authorities, and regional organizations in African countries is essential.
• Experience in Private sector development (in particular, formulation of opportunities for private sector support) and in assessing the potential for investments from the private sector.
• A sound understanding of the Africa context is required and at least 10 years of relevant work experience in the region is essential.
• Prior involvement in small ruminants and livestock policy/strategy programs in Sub-Saharan Africa
• Familiarity with EU rules and procedures and experience in project cycle management is required.
• Working knowledge (level C) of English. Knowledge of a second FAO language is an asset.
• Desirable: Knowledge of any African language is an asset.

Technical Focus

• The Food Processing Hub Specialist will provide strategic leadership, day-to-day oversight of all aspects of the Food processing Hub’s core operations, including planning, supervising/ managing hub infrastructural and systems’ development, providing needed technical and business support services for the food entrepreneurs, and assisting them to meet their business goals.

Tasks And Responsibilities

•  Develop shared use policies and procedures and guide entrepreneurs in the implementation and reinforcement of the shared use agreements.
•  Support the food entrepreneurs to effectively and efficiently get the work done, manage schedules, and ensure the facilities are running smoothly.
•  Oversee the day-to-day operation of the shared use facility and processes of the Food Hub to ensure the safe, timely, and consistent flow of the Food Hub products.
•  Support establishment and maintenance of HACCP certification among other food safety management systems alongside observing Occupational health and safety measures.
•  Provide entrepreneurs with guidance and direct management of all aspects of the Food Hub’s daily operations ensuring efficient and effective use of all Food Hub resources.
•  Develop and implement procedures to promote communication and information sharing to stimulate demand for the hub foods.
•  Collaborate with raw material suppliers, the food entrepreneurs, and consumers to identify business and market opportunities.
•  Support the identification of an organizational structure based on the groups’ focus and leadership.
•  Perform other duties as may be assigned by the FAO Representative or their duly appointed representative(s).

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

•  University degree in Agribusiness, Food Technology, Business Administration and/or Hotel and Restaurant Management
•  Minimum of 5 years of relevant experience in technical training on food processing, food packaging, and marketing of food products
•  Working knowledge of English and Kiswahili National of Kenya

FAO Core Competencies

•  Results Focus
•  Teamwork
•  Communication
•  Building Effective Relationships
•  Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills

•  Supervisory experience required.
•  Technical knowledge and skills in food processing techniques, food safety standards, and quality assurance practices.
•  Ability to implement and oversee systems to maintain regulatory requirements for safe food handling.
•  Excellent record keeping and data management skills.
•  Experience working in a socioeconomically diverse environment and interacting with individuals from different backgrounds.
•  Experience living and working in a rural environment, and/or working with small scale start-up food businesses
•  Effective verbal and written communication skills

• The Project Nutrition Support Specialist will work in consultation with the FAO Nutrition Sensitive Agriculture Specialists and in close collaboration with the agriculture and health ministries at county level; the Specialist will support implementation of the nutrition aspects of the ‘Building Refugee Settlements in Kenya’ project in Garissa County – Dadaab.

Tasks And Responsibilities

•  Support capacity building efforts targeted at the Garissa County government executive and County officers on Nutrition-sensitive Agriculture and Food Systems.
•  Support establishment of 5 model gardens which will serve as learning sites to produce nutrient-dense, diverse, bio-fortified, and drought-resistant crops.
•  In close collaboration with WFP, support Social Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) formative research, develop key messages and design interventions as informed by the research.
•  Support activities of Social Behavior Change Communication on nutrition and food safety targeted at refugee and host community households.
•  Lead identification of Community-Based Extension Service Providers (CBESP).
•  Support establishment and maintenance of kitchen garden technologies and poultry keeping by host and refugee households.
•  Lead initiatives that promote appropriate preparation, processing, preservation, and storage of locally produced nutrient-dense foods, by host and refugee households. Joint field monitoring with the service provider
•  Track progress of reporting with a lens on nutrition indicators
•  Represent FAO in County coordination platforms for nutrition.
•  Perform any other duty as requested.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

•  University degree in nutrition, home economics, food science or any other relevant field.
•  5 years of professional experience in implementing field-based projects with a nutrition component.
•  Working knowledge of English and Kiswahili
•  National of Kenya

FAO Core Competencies

•  Results Focus
•  Teamwork
•  Communication
•  Building Effective Relationships
•  Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills

•  Experience in nutrition sensitive agriculture will be an added advantage.
•  Experience in report writing will be an added advantage.
•  Ability to read, write and communicate in local languages including Somali.

• The Project Nutrition Support Specialist will work in consultation with the FAO Nutrition Sensitive Agriculture Specialists and in close collaboration with the agriculture and health ministries at county level; the Specialist will support implementation of the nutrition aspects of the ‘Building Refugee Settlements in Kenya’ project in Garissa County – Dadaab.

Tasks And Responsibilities

•  Support capacity building efforts targeted at the Garissa County government executive and County officers on Nutrition-sensitive Agriculture and Food Systems.
•  Support establishment of 5 model gardens which will serve as learning sites to produce nutrient-dense, diverse, bio-fortified, and drought-resistant crops.
•  In close collaboration with WFP, support Social Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) formative research, develop key messages and design interventions as informed by the research.
•  Support activities of Social Behavior Change Communication on nutrition and food safety targeted at refugee and host community households.
•  Lead identification of Community-Based Extension Service Providers (CBESP).
•  Support establishment and maintenance of kitchen garden technologies and poultry keeping by host and refugee households.
•  Lead initiatives that promote appropriate preparation, processing, preservation, and storage of locally produced nutrient-dense foods, by host and refugee households. Joint field monitoring with the service provider
•  Track progress of reporting with a lens on nutrition indicators
•  Represent FAO in County coordination platforms for nutrition.
•  Perform any other duty as requested.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

•  University degree in nutrition, home economics, food science or any other relevant field.
•  5 years of professional experience in implementing field-based projects with a nutrition component.
•  Working knowledge of English and Kiswahili
•  National of Kenya

FAO Core Competencies

•  Results Focus
•  Teamwork
•  Communication
•  Building Effective Relationships
•  Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills

•  Experience in nutrition sensitive agriculture will be an added advantage.
•  Experience in report writing will be an added advantage.
•  Ability to read, write and communicate in local languages including Somali.